Two campuses within the University of Wisconsin System announced Tuesday they are offering employees a voluntary retirement buyout with a one-time payout equal to 50% of an employee's annual base salary.

The buyouts at UW-Oshkosh and UW-Green Bay offer the same payout, but the eligibility requirements are different. At UW-Green Bay, the offer is being extended to all employees 55 and older who have at least five years of service. At UW-Oshkosh, employees must be at least 60 and have 25 years of service to the state to be eligible.

Tuesday's announcements bring to four the total number of campuses seeking to reduce their workforce through voluntary buyouts in the face of state budget cuts. UW-Eau Claire was the first campus to make the offer, followed last week by UW-Superior.(311)

The Rundown: Lake Delton flood wiped out homes, but not taxes

The Rundown is a weekday synopsis of news involving politics and government from the pages of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, as well as headlines of note from elsewhere.

If things weren't troubling enough for those whose homes were washed away with the Lake Delton flood, those homeowners have received some more bad news: They'll have to pay the full property tax bills for their homes for 2008, even though the property is gone.

But drivers from Milwaukee to Madison can rejoice -- I94 is open again in both directions. But the cost of all that rain is starting to be tallied -- initial estimates show that damage in 30 counties hit hardest by the recent flooding and storms is more than $470 million. Meanwhile, solutions for raising water levels on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are decades away, an international study group meeting in Wisconsin has said.

Saying the system was broken, presumptive presidential Democratic nominee Barack Obama, U.S. senator from Illinois, has said he'll forego public funding for his campaign, breaking an earlier pledge to abide by the spending limits. His Republican opponent, U.S. John McCain of Arizona, said he would accept public financing.